It’s well-documented at this point that Toyota likes to rebadge and sell Suzuki cars under its own name in South Africa, but it turns out that the partnership between the two brands goes both ways.
Suzuki is also quite happy to take a few Toyota originals and slap its own logo on the bonnet, though these models are currently limited to a few select markets.
Isn’t that a Toyota?
The two most prominent examples of Suzuki badge-engineered models are the Swace and Across, which are based on the Toyota Corolla and Rav4, respectively.
Both of these cars are currently limited to Europe, and there’s a good reason why Suzuki chose to borrow these specific nameplates from Toyota for the Eurozone.
The European Union is constantly tightening its car emission regulations as part of an ongoing campaign to reduce greenhouse gas pollution and promote new-energy vehicles (NEVs) as a substitute – which is a problem for Suzuki as it does not have any electric cars and its list of hybrids is very small compared to many automakers.
Suzuki, therefore, decided to call upon its partner Toyota for assistance, as the Japanese marque is one of the world’s leading brands with regard to hybrid adoption.
Consequently, the Swace is built on the same platform as the Corolla and uses the 1.8-litre petrol-hybrid engine with an output of 103kW and 142Nm.
Interestingly, the Swace is based on the Corolla Estate, which is a model we don’t have access to in South Africa as the Corolla is limited to hatchback and sedan body types in our market.
It’s a similar story for the Across, which uses the Rav4 as a template and features the same 2.5-litre plug-in hybrid (PHEV) petrol drivetrain with 136kW and 167Nm.
This is also something that isn’t available in South Africa, as the local Rav4 is only sold with a traditional hybrid setup and not the PHEV system with the capacity for full-electric driving.
Another example of Suzuki badge engineering includes the Invicto, which is based on the Toyota Innova MPV and is currently sold in India.
Similarly, Suzuki has applied its touch to the Toyota Noah MPV found in Japan – renaming it the Landy.
It’s worth mentioning that, in Africa at least, the Suzuki-Toyota partnership is very one-sided to the latter’s benefit, as Toyota is relying more and more on rebadged models for its more affordable selection of cars in this market.
The list of Toyota-branded Suzuki vehicles in Africa is as follows:
- Toyota Belta – Suzuki Ciaz
- Toyota Rumion – Suzuki Ertiga
- Toyota Starlet –Suzuki Baleno
- Toyota Starlet Cross – Suzuki Fronx
- Toyota Urban Cruiser – Suzuki Grand Vitara
- Toyota Vitz – Suzuki Celerio
The only model not sold in South Africa is the Belta, as Toyota has its own affordable sedan with the Corolla Quest.
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